College Admissions Process Can Often Be a Top Source of Stress and Anxiety for Students

October 2018 A “FIT” OVER RANKINGS Why College Engagement Matters More Than Selectivity EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Based on the Challenge Success survey data of more than 100,000 high school students across the country, we know that the college admissions process can often be a top source of stress and anxiety for students. While many schools, counselors, and parents encourage students to focus on finding the “right fit” college, this advice can be difficult to follow without a better understanding of what “fit” means and what matters most — both for learning and engagement in college — and for life outcomes beyond college. This paper reviews and synthesizes key research in order to address many of the important questions and concerns we hear from students, parents, and schools about the college admissions process: What do college rankings really measure? Are students who attend more selective colleges better off later in life? What is “fit” and why does it matter? What the research shows: RANKINGS ARE PROBLEMATIC. Many students and families rely on college rankings published by well-known organizations to define quality. The higher the ranking, the logic goes, the better the college must be and vice versa. We find that many of the metrics used in these rankings are weighted arbitrarily and are not accurate indicators of a college’s quality or positive outcomes for students. COLLEGE SELECTIVITY IS NOT A RELIABLE PREDICTOR OF STUDENT LEARNING, JOB SATISFACTION, OR WELL-BEING. We explore the research on whether attending a selective college predicts important life outcomes and find no significant relationship between a school’s selectivity and student learning, future job satisfaction, or well-being. We find a modest relationship between financial benefits and attending more selective colleges, and that these benefits apply more to first-generation and other underserved students. We also find that individual student characteristics (such as background, major, ambition) may make more of a difference in terms of post-college outcomes than the institutions themselves. ENGAGEMENT IN COLLEGE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHERE YOU ATTEND. Colleges that provide ample opportunities for students to deeply engage in learning and campus community may offer the key to positive outcomes after college. For instance, students who participate in internships that allow them to apply what they learn in the classroom to real life settings, students who have mentors in college who encourage them to pursue personal goals, and students who engage in multi-semester projects are more likely to thrive after college. There is no question that the college admissions process can be stressful. We hope that this paper prompts students and families to examine what college success means to them and to question common assumptions about college selectivity. A good fit is a college where a student will be engaged — in class and out — by what the college has to offer. With over 4,500 colleges in the United States, there are many schools from which to choose. We encourage students and families to look beyond rankings in the college search process, and instead to seek a school where students can participate fully in academic, civic, and social life in order to thrive both during the college years and beyond. October 2018 INTRODUCTION Since 2007, we have asked over 100,000 high school experience, students don’t necessarily know what that students, “Right now in your life, what, if anything, means or how to follow that advice. Some students causes you the most stress and why?” The number define “fit” as a match between their SAT scores and one answer is the heavy workload they face. The the average SAT scores of other students at a college. second is usually college admissions. Indeed, most of Many become consumed with the idea that they need the high-performing high schools in the Challenge to be admitted to a “selective” college regardless of fit. Success program list the college admissions process as one of the most common root causes of stress for This focus on selectivity may stem from misconceptions their students. The students and schools identify about college rankings and how college selectivity other stressors as well, such as too many courses and affects both what happens during the college years and extracurricular activities in a day, too little time for life after graduation. In order to help explain what makes deep learning and collaboration, and an over-reliance a good fit and to clear up some of these misconceptions, on testing for assessment, but these are issues that the we conducted an extensive review of the literature on students and schools feel they can ultimately address. college outcomes, such as student learning, well-being, They know they can work to change homework policies job satisfaction, and future income, and we explored and modify schedules and implement more authentic the relationship between these outcomes and rankings assessments, but the college admissions process is and college selectivity. In this paper, we synthesize particularly frustrating to them because it feels like it the current research to address the following three is out of their hands. questions: 1. What do college rankings really measure? This paper addresses some of the concerns of schools, students, and parents who are stressed by the college 2. What is the relationship between college admissions process. We know that students are selectivity and student outcomes? often advised to find the “right fit” college, but in our 3. What is “fit”? Why does it matter? ABOUT CHALLENGE SUCCESS Challenge Success is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. We partner with schools, families, and communities to embrace a broad definition of success and to implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement with learning. www.challengesuccess.org 3 What do college rankings measure? National and international rankings of colleges1 and heading of “selectivity.” In these ranking systems universities play an increasingly large role in the way and in much of the college research, the term “non- students, parents, administrators, and researchers selective” is used for those colleges that admit nearly understand the landscape of higher education. Because every student, for example, community colleges that of the influence of the rankings, many colleges work only require evidence of a high school diploma or hard to conform with the formulae used by the ranking equivalent. The term “selective” typically refers to agencies, particularly the early commercially successful colleges that “select” students to admit from a pool agencies like Barron’s, The Princeton Review, and, of applicants. Depending on the research, “selective” especially, U.S. News and World Report (Hazelkorn, may refer to colleges that admit very high percentages 2015). In fact, the rankings have become so popular, that of applicants as well as those that admit much smaller many people consider selectivity and ranking to be the percentages.2 same thing. The logic is that the more competitive the admissions process, and the more difficult it is to get Let’s take a closer look at how U.S. News and World into a particular college, the better that college is. Report, a particularly prominent ranking agency, determines its rankings for National Universities and Ranking systems and researchers use a more specific Liberals Arts Colleges (they use a slightly different definition of selectivity.Barron’s , for example, sorts formula for “Regional” institutions). Doing so will colleges into tiers based on selectivity as measured provide insight into how ranking lists are created by SAT scores, high school GPA and class rank, and and what they mean. The chart on the following page acceptance rate (Barron’s College Division, 2018). U.S. explains the fifteen metrics used byU.S. News and News and World Report also uses SAT scores, class World Report in 2017,3 though many other ranking rank, and acceptance rate in its formula, all under the agencies use similar metrics (Barron’s College 1 Following U.S. colloquial conventions, we use the terms “college” and “university” interchangeably. 2 In this paper, we do not use the terms “ranking” and “selectivity” interchangeably. When we refer to rankings, we mean where a college is ranked according to a particular ranking system. When we refer to selectivity, we use the more specific definition according to the research we are citing each time. 3 The weights cited and discussed below come from the 2017 U.S. News and World Report website (see https://www.usnews.com/education/ best-colleges/articles/ranking-criteria-and-weights). Note that these are recalculated to provide the exact weight of each metric. In the original rankings, there are seven major ranking areas, each made up of one to five of the listed metrics. For example, “Graduation and Retention Rates” make up 22.5% of the total ranking. 80% of “Graduation and Retention Rates” comes from the graduation rate, while 20% comes from the first-year retention rate. Thus, 18% of the total score (22.5%x 80%) comes from graduation rate, while 4.5% (22.5% x 20%) comes from the first-year retention rate. All percentages are rounded to one decimal place. 4 U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: “Best Colleges” Ranking Criteria & Weights (2017) GRADUATION RATE is a measure of what ALUMNI GIVING RATE measures what percentage of students who enroll in a school percentage of graduates contribute graduate within 6 years. A higher graduation financially to the college. Higher is rate is considered better. considered better, as it implies that graduates valued their time at the college enough to donate. REPUTATION AMONG PEERS is calculated by surveying university administrators, then averaging the results. It is a subjective FIRST-YEAR RETENTION is how many measure of prestige.

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